CN114962090A

CN114962090A - Plastic connecting piece and parallel air filter system using same

Info

Publication number: CN114962090A
Application number: CN202110213785.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王士荣
Original assignee: Donaldson Co Inc
Current assignee: Donaldson Co Inc
Priority date: 2021-02-26
Filing date: 2021-02-26
Publication date: 2022-08-30
Also published as: WO2022183059A1; EP4297886A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a plastic connecting piece for binding and connecting two or more air filters. Wherein, the connecting piece body is provided with a guide rail and a frame foot; the latch has an aperture and a latch arm. The trompil of buckle spare is connected with the guide rail buckle of connecting piece body for connecting piece body and buckle spare make up into the plastics connecting piece, and the buckle spare can slide along the guide rail under the effort. The invention also discloses a parallel air filter system using the plastic connecting piece. The plastic connecting piece disclosed by the invention does not need to be installed by tools, is low in cost, saves manpower and time, reduces the installation stress of the parallel air filter, and is favorable for the durability of the air filter.

Description

Plastic connecting piece and parallel air filter system using same

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of air filtration, in particular to a plastic connecting piece for parallel air filters and a parallel air filter system using the plastic connecting piece for binding connection.

Background

The air cleaner is used for filtering various impurities in the air to ensure clean air to enter the engine. Generally, the rated flow of the air cleaner needs to match the rated flow of the engine. In actual use, the rated flow rate of the air cleaner may be small and the rated flow rate of the engine may be large, so that the air cleaner and the engine cannot be matched with each other. One solution used at this time is to install several (e.g., two) air filters of smaller rated flow in parallel as a single product to match the larger rated flow engine. This solution is widely used in the air cleaner industry due to its rapidity, flexibility and low cost.

By way of example, fig. 1-2b illustrate one example of the parallel connection of two air filters currently employed. As shown, the air cleaner system 1000 includes two air cleaners 1100 connected in parallel, an outlet tee 1200 connected to the air cleaners 1100, and a connector 1300 securing the two air cleaners 1100. Wherein two ports of the air outlet tee 1200 are butted with outlets of two air filters 1100 arranged in parallel with each other, and the other port is led to the engine. The fixation between the two air cleaners 1100 employs a metal connection 1300, which is composed of a U-shaped metal plate 1310, a metal bolt 1320, and a metal nut 1330.

However, the material cost and the processing cost for fixing by using the metal connecting piece are high, and the assembly is difficult due to space limitation. In addition, the connection of the metal connecting piece and the two air filter shells belongs to rigid connection, and because the air filter mounting surface and the air filter mounting bracket have dimensional tolerance, and the problems of flatness and position degree exist between the air filter mounting point and the mounting bracket, the installation of the air filters connected in parallel can cause larger mounting stress, which is not beneficial to the durability of the air filters.

Therefore, a new connector for fixing several air cleaners in parallel is always sought. The connecting piece can reduce the cost, is convenient to install, and has certain self-adaptive adjustment capability to the problems of flatness and position degree between the air filter installation point and the installation support.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to solve the technical problems that the connecting member for fixing a plurality of air cleaners connected in parallel is high in cost, complex in installation, and the rigid connection is not favorable for the durability of the air cleaners. In order to solve the technical problems, the invention adopts the following technical scheme.

In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a plastic connector for securing parallel air cleaners including a connector body and a latch. Wherein, the connecting piece body is provided with a guide rail and a frame foot; the latch has an aperture and a latch arm. The opening of the fastener is connected with the guide rail of the connecting piece body in a fastening mode, so that the connecting piece body and the fastener are combined into the plastic connecting piece, and the fastener can slide along the guide rail under acting force.

Preferably, the opening is a square hole to match the cross-sectional profile of the rail.

Preferably, the fastener has elasticity and is O-shaped.

Preferably, the connecting piece body further comprises a body limiting piece extending outwards from the guide rail so as to prevent the buckling piece from being separated from the connecting piece body due to deformation.

Preferably, the body limiting piece has a radian, the radian of the curved surface of the buckle piece is matched, and the buckle piece is prevented from being separated from the connecting piece body by pressing the curved surface of the buckle piece.

Preferably, the buckle part is further provided with a buckle part limiting piece, transversely extends at the inner side of the buckle part at a certain angle, is positioned below the opening, and is used for pressing the guide rail when the plastic connecting part is under the action of tensile force so as to prevent the buckle part arm from popping out of the mounting hole of the mounting bracket and enabling the plastic connecting part to be accidentally loosened.

Preferably, the locking member has a pair of locking member limiting pieces, and the locking member limiting pieces respectively extend from opposite sides of the locking member in the middle along opposite directions at a certain angle and transversely on the inner side of the locking member.

Preferably, the latch arms extend outwardly from opposite sides along the latch minor axis, with a lead angle at the distal ends of the latch arms.

In another aspect, the present disclosure discloses a parallel air cleaner system using a plastic connector, including two or more air cleaners, an air outlet multi-ported tube connected to an outlet end of the air cleaner, and any of the aforementioned plastic connectors mounted to a mounting bracket.

Preferably, when the plastic connector is directly press-fitted to the mounting bracket by hand, the latch arm is inserted into its corresponding mounting hole in the mounting bracket guided by the guide corner, and the frame foot is also inserted into its corresponding mounting hole in the mounting bracket, thereby fixing the air cleaners connected in parallel.

Compared with the prior parallel air filter fixing mode, such as a metal connecting piece mode, the parallel air filter fixing device has more advantages, and comprises the following steps:

1. the plastic cost and the injection molding processing process cost are low;

2. the connecting piece is installed in a hand pressing mode, so that the efficiency is high, the convenience is realized, and tools are not needed;

3. after the plastic connecting piece is installed on the air filter installation support which is connected in parallel, the air filter which is connected in parallel can be slightly adjusted due to the flexibility of the plastic, so that the size deviation of the air filter installation surface and the installation support can be self-adaptive, the installation stress of the air filter which is connected in parallel is reduced, and the durability of the air filter is facilitated.

This summary is an overview of some of the teachings of the present application and is not intended to be an exclusive or exhaustive list of the present subject matter. Further details can be found in the detailed description and the appended claims. Other aspects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It is to be understood that the drawings in the following description are merely exemplary of some embodiments of the invention. Other embodiments may be derived from these embodiments by those of ordinary skill in the art without the exercise of inventive faculty.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art parallel air cleaner system employing metal connectors.

Fig. 2a-2b are enlarged schematic views of the metal connection of fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a parallel air cleaner system employing a plastic connector according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4a-4c are schematic views of the plastic connector of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a connector body of a plastic connector.

Fig. 6a-6b are schematic views of the clasp of the plastic connector.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the parallel air cleaner system prior to press-fitting the plastic connector.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the parallel air cleaner system after press-fitting of the plastic connector.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not restrictive.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present application relates to a parallel air cleaner system using plastic connectors for binding connection, including two or more air cleaners, an air outlet multi-ported tube, and a plastic connector.

Fig. 3 shows a parallel air filtration system with two air filters. Wherein the air outlet end 21 of each air filter 20 is connected in parallel through a corresponding port of the air outlet tee 30, and the other port of the air outlet tee 30 leads to the engine. In this example, an air outlet tee 30 is secured at a port to the air outlet end 21 of the air cleaner 20 by a fastener 31. Also, four plastic connecting members 10 are provided between the two air cleaners 20, and two plastic connecting members 10 are provided on the left and right when the parallel air filtration system is arranged in the direction shown in fig. 3, only one plastic connecting member 10 is shown on the left and right in fig. 3, and the lower two are not visible in fig. 3. The plastic connectors 10 are respectively mounted on the corresponding mounting brackets 40 of the air cleaners 20 for connecting and fixing the two air cleaners 20 connected in parallel. The number of plastic connectors 10 used in the parallel air filtration system can be adjusted according to the size, shape, and operating conditions of the particular filter.

Referring now to fig. 4a, there is shown a perspective view of the plastic connector 10 according to the present invention. The plastic connector 10 includes a connector body 100 and a latch 200 that snap together to form a connector assembly. Preferably, the connector body 100 and the latch 200 are respectively formed by an injection molding process. In one embodiment, the connector body 100 may be made of nylon and fiberglass material, and the latch 200 may be made of POM (polyoxymethylene) material. In another embodiment, the connector body 100 and the fastener 200 may both be made of PP (polypropylene) and glass fiber material, so as to further reduce the cost.

The connector body 100, as shown in fig. 5, includes a guide rail 101, a frame leg 102 and a body limiting piece 103, which are symmetrically disposed. Wherein, the frame legs 102 are respectively located at two sides of the connector body 100. When the plastic connector 10 is pressed, the frame foot 102 is pushed into the mounting hole of the mounting bracket.

The latch 200 is preferably oblong, such as an O-shape, as shown in fig. 6a-6b, and has a certain elasticity (or flexibility) and can be deformed by a pressing force. In this example, the oblong/O-shape appears to be made up of a pair of generally parallel straight sides and a pair of opposing curved sides without the application of external forces. Of course, other shapes suitable for use with the present invention are possible.

The clasp 200 has an aperture 201 in a generally straight side, in this example 4 apertures 201 are shown, two on each side, symmetrically disposed along the minor axis of the oblong clasp. The number and spacing of the openings 201 match the number and spacing of the rails 101 of the connector body 100. Furthermore, the opening 201 shown in this example is a square hole in order to accommodate the rail 101. It should be noted that other shapes of openings are possible, as long as a matching of the profile of the guide rail 101 to be slidable along the guide rail is achieved.

When the connector body 100 is engaged with the latch 200, the latch 200 is deformed to open under the action of the force until the rail 101 of the connector body 100 is latched into the opening 201 of the latch 200. At this time, the rail 101 passes through the opening 201 (see fig. 4a), and the grommet 200 with the opening 201 can be stretched and contracted on the rail 101 under force. The view of the connector body 100 and the locking member 200 at different angles after being locked can be seen in fig. 4b-4 c.

In order to prevent the locking member 200 from falling off accidentally after being locked with the connector body 100, for example, the locking member 200 deforms to separate the opening 201 from the guide rail 101, the connector body 100 is further provided with a body limiting piece 103 extending outward from the guide rail 101. In the illustrated example, the body limiting tab 103 is substantially circular, see fig. 4c, with a curvature that substantially matches the curvature of the curved surface of the latch 200. The body limiting piece 103 prevents the fastener 200 from further deforming by pressing against the curved surface of the fastener 200, so as to prevent the fastener from accidentally disengaging from the connector body 100.

The latch 200 also has a latch arm 202 on a generally straight side, as shown in FIGS. 6a-6b, that preferably extends outward along the minor axis of the latch 200. Preferably, the clasp arm 202 has a lead angle 212 (see also fig. 4 b). In this example, the lead angle is about 50 degrees. Preferably, the lead angle may be between 30 and 60 degrees. After the fastener 200 is assembled with the connector body 100 to form the connector 10, the connector 10 is mounted to the mounting bracket by a pressing force. Under the action of the force, the elastic latch 200 contracts, and the lead angle 212 on the latch 200 guides and facilitates the latch arm 202 and the frame leg 102 to be inserted into the respective mounting hole of the mounting bracket. See also fig. 7-8.

The locking element 200 further has a locking element stopper 203 extending at a certain angle transversely inside the O-shaped locking element 200 and located below the opening 201. In this example, there are two clasp spacing tabs 203, each extending inside the O-shaped clasp 200 at an angle in opposite directions from a respective clasp arm 202. When a pulling force acts on the connector 10, the latch stopper 203 presses against the rail 101 (fig. 8) of the connector body 100, and prevents the latch arm 202 from popping out of the mounting hole of the mounting bracket 40, so that the connector 10 is accidentally released.

Fig. 7-8 show schematic views of pressing the mounting link 10 to the mounting bracket 40 in the position of the front and rear links 10 relative to the mounting bracket 40, respectively. For clarity, fig. 7-8 are shown in cross-section. During installation, the two air filters are placed side by side and the connector 10 is pressed down by hand. At this time, the lead angle 212 of the elastic latch 200 generates an inward component force on the mounting bracket 40, and the elastic latch 200 contracts inward due to the component force. The connector 10 continues downward under the pressing force until the latch arm 202 of the latch 200 is inserted into the mounting hole of the mounting bracket 40 and the frame leg 102 of the connector body 100 is also inserted into the mounting hole of the mounting bracket 40, the installation is completed, and the two air cleaners connected in parallel are secured. The whole operation process does not need any tool assistance.

The above description is only exemplary of the present invention and should not be taken as limiting the invention, as any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A plastic connecting piece for binding and connecting an air filter is characterized in that: the plastic connecting piece comprises a connecting piece body and a clamping and buckling piece;

wherein, the connecting piece body is provided with a guide rail and a frame foot; the fastener is provided with an opening and a fastener arm;

the opening of the fastener is connected with the guide rail of the connecting piece body in a fastening mode, so that the connecting piece body and the fastener are combined into the plastic connecting piece, and the fastener can slide along the guide rail under acting force.

2. The plastic connector of claim 1, wherein: the open pore is a square hole to match the section shape of the guide rail.

3. The plastic connector of claim 1, wherein: the buckle piece has elasticity and is O-shaped.

4. A plastic connector according to claim 3, wherein: the connecting piece body further comprises a body limiting piece which extends out of the guide rail to prevent the buckling piece from being separated from the connecting piece body due to deformation.

5. The plastic connector of claim 4, wherein: the body limiting piece is provided with a radian which is matched with the radian of the curved surface of the buckle piece, and the buckle piece is prevented from being separated from the connecting piece body by pressing the curved surface of the buckle piece.

6. The plastic connector of claim 1, wherein: the buckle piece is also provided with a buckle piece limiting piece, transversely extends at the inner side of the buckle piece at a certain angle, is positioned below the opening and is used for pressing the guide rail when the plastic connecting piece is under the action of pulling force, and preventing the buckle piece arm from popping out of the mounting hole of the mounting bracket so as to ensure that the plastic connecting piece is accidentally loosened and released.

7. The plastic connector of claim 6, wherein: the buckling piece is provided with a pair of buckling piece limiting pieces which respectively extend transversely on the inner side of the buckling piece from the opposite side surfaces of the buckling piece along opposite directions at a certain angle.

8. The plastic connector of claim 4, wherein: the buckle piece is further provided with a buckle piece limiting piece, transversely extends on the inner side of the buckle piece at a certain angle, is located below the opening and is used for pressing the guide rail when the plastic connecting piece is under the action of tensile force, and prevents the buckle piece arm from popping out of the mounting hole of the mounting bracket so as to enable the plastic connecting piece to be accidentally loosened.

9. The plastic connector of claim 8, wherein: the buckling piece is provided with a pair of buckling piece limiting pieces which respectively extend transversely on the inner side of the buckling piece from the opposite side surfaces of the buckling piece along opposite directions at a certain angle.

10. A plastic connector according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein: the latch arms extend outwardly from opposite sides along the minor axis of the latch, with a lead angle at the distal ends of the latch arms.

11. A parallel air cleaner system using plastic connectors, comprising: comprising two or more air cleaners, an air outlet multi-port tube connected to the outlet ends of the air cleaners and a plastic connector according to any one of claims 1-10 mounted to a mounting bracket.

12. The parallel air cleaner system of claim 11, wherein: when the plastic connecting piece is installed on the installation bracket, the clamping piece arm is inserted into the corresponding installation hole of the installation bracket under the guidance of the guide angle, and the frame foot is also inserted into the corresponding installation hole of the installation bracket, so that the air filters connected in parallel are fixed.